At the End of the Matinee

Written by Keiichiro Hirano

Narrated by Brian Nishii

Bestselling author Keiichiro Hirano offers a timeless ode to love’s fragility and its resilience in this delicate, award-winning novel.

Classical guitarist Satoshi Makino has toured the world and is at the height of his career when he first lays eyes on journalist Yoko Komine. Their bond forms instantly.

Upon their first meeting, after Makino’s concert in Tokyo, they begin a conversation that will go on for years, with long spells of silence broken by powerful moments of connection. She’s drawn by Makino’s tender music and his sensitivity, and he is intrigued by Yoko’s refinement and intellect. But neither knows enough about love to see it blooming nor has the confidence to make the first move. Will their connection endure, weaving them back together like instruments in a symphony, or will fate lead them apart?

Blending the harmonies of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes and the sensuality of Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love, At the End of the Matinee is an enchanting and thought-provoking love story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Translator: Juliet Winters Carpenter
• Release date: Apr 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713561002

Keiichiro Hirano

Keiichiro Hirano is an award-winning and bestselling novelist whose debut novel, The Eclipse, won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1998, when he was a twenty-three-year-old university student. A cultural envoy to Paris appointed by Japan’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs, he has given lectures throughout Europe. Widely read in France, China, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, and Egypt, Hirano is also the author of At the End of the Matinee, a runaway bestseller in Japan, among many other books. His short fiction has appeared in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature. A Man, winner of Japan’s Yomiuri Prize for Literature, is the first of Hirano’s novels to be translated into English. For more information, visit en.k-hirano.com and follow Hirano on Twitter at @hiranok_en.

Reviews for At the End of the Matinee

[Patricia Leah Lazar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Moving characters
Existential, edgy , soulful
Loved the narrator, will definitely listen to it again in a year

[Colleen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was drawn to this book after reading A Man, which I enjoyed. I did not enjoy this as much. I suppose it was because I couldn't feel for the characters, I wasn't so much invested in them,. although I certainly could understand why (spoiler) they continued life as they did, even after discovering the truth.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Parts of it a bit frazzled. Iraq. Guitars. Economists. A-bomb in Japan. Lotsnif subjects squeezed in this book. Some of it a bit unbelievable.

[maryreinert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book about love and what real love requires. Makino is a Japanese classical guitarist who has never had a serious love. Yoko is a French journalist on assignment in Iraq. Through a mutual friend, they meet and immediately a deep bond is felt; however, their careers take them in vastly different directions. Through Skype, they continue to meet and have long satisfying talks. Although Yoko is engaged to Richard back in the US, she begins to look differently at that relationship.This is a complicated story not just about the relationship between these two characters, but Yoko's childhood, Makino's musical career and his manager who has devoted her life to his music. Although Makino and Yoko have only three actual meetings, they are so intertwined emotionally -- is this love, friendship? Yoko goes on to marry and have a child but the marriage ends in divorce. Makino marries his manager and also becomes a father. There are many twists to the story, all believable of jealously, forgiveness, sacrifice, and respect. This is not a quick read as every word counts (however, there might be a bit too much detail regarding the musical pieces that Makino plays). Interesting story and not the kind of book I usually read, but glad I did. Hirano is wonderful writer.